Sangeet Venues

Given our criteria for the Sangeet, my parents and I have been working long and hard (hours and hours) to find a venue that will fit the program, that is near the rest of the events, fit our guest list, and fit our budget. Most importantly we needed a venue large enough to have space for a garba, and seating for dinner. Try finding a venue to meet these criteria in LA - not easy.

We have looked at all options - interesting and non, cliche and unique, small and large...including The Santa Monica Airport Hanger #8, The Bungalow Club, The Pacific Electric Event & Filming Location, The Beverly Hilton, The Kyoto Grand, the Vibiana, and the Rio Hondo Country Club in Downey of all places -yuk. Searching high and low....we are down to two options...

Option 1: The Cerritos Library . Hmmm....a library? Huh? Yea, a library. It's gorgeous! My parents found this place and I said the same thing - huh? - but it works. Don't judge till you click on the link and see the pictures. Amy, our wedding planner, went with them to check it out and it's a definite contender. It would be unique, and it would be fun. It's totally modern and a lot of what we need would be covered. There are only two downsides...

• It can hold MAX 200 people inside and outside. So, if we do the Garba inside the auditorium, and have the seating for the food outside, it can work. But we would have to cut down the current 300 person wedding guest list to 200 for this one event. Tough, but can be done.
  
• It's about a 45 minute drive from Santa Monica, which will be the HQ for the whole weekend. We risk our out of town guests getting lost and having to drive a bit.
  
• This dance inside, eat outside thing is a little different, but can be a good different.

Option 2: The Santa Monica Woman's Club. Hmmm...Womans Club? What's that? Yep, I said the same thing. But there are so many benefits to this place. It's beautifully historic, it's in Santa Monica (the HQ for the weekend), it has a 400 person capacity so we wouldn't need to cut our guest list. Again, here there are only two downsides...

• It's double the cost. Which is okay, because both are less expensive than a hotel. But, this is a factor.
  
• It's old. The library is brand new and modern. This is old and it's historic - so not modern.

We definitely don't want to go all out for the Sangeet - we want it to be fun but not a mini scale of the wedding. So, we have our two choices and we'll have to make a decision quick since things are booking up FAST!

Decorated well, I think both these places can work. Question is...which one?

Wish us luck...